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Rain forces India-bound Saudia flight to land in Sri Lanka/news/568566

Rain forces India-bound Saudia flight to land in Sri Lanka

JEDDAH: Irfan Mohammed|Published — Saturday 10 May 2014

Heavy torrential rains in the Malabar region in India’s Kerala state affected flights to and from Jeddah on Thursday and Friday.Saudia Flight SV892 from Jeddah to Calicut was diverted to Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital on Thursday owing to the stormy weather. The flight, which was scheduled to arrive Thursday, landed in Calicut on Friday morning causing it to be delayed by almost seven hours.Adverse conditions in the neighboring city of Calicut in India are believed to be the prime reason for the diversion of the flight to Colombo, according to sources. The flight was supposed to land in Calicut at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday but following the diversion to Colombo, it could only reach Calicut on Friday at 6:40 a.m., they added.Saudia Flight SV893 which was scheduled to arrive from Calicut to Jeddah on Friday has been canceled and rescheduled for Saturday, according to King Abdulaziz International Airport sources. “The flight is now rescheduled to arrive on Saturday at 3:15 p.m.” the sources said.However, Air Indian officials assured its passengers that the Calicut flight from Jeddah is scheduled to leave on Friday evening as usual.Feroz Khan, Western region manager of Air India, told Arab News: “Now that the weather is back to normal in Calicut, the Air India flight will continue as scheduled without any interruption.”